Visit California’s website for its Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project and it’s easy to see why some fleets might be willing to give zero emission trucks a try.
The Golden State is currently offering $120,000 to help subsidize the purchase of a Class 8 all-electric truck and $240,000 for a hydrogen fuel cell truck. Eight electric and four fuel cell models are currently eligible.
Though HVIP’s Class 8 lineup doesn’t include natural gas trucks, there are at least three federal grant programs that can help fleets make the switch along with several state programs, according to Natural Gas Vehicles for America.
While incentives have long attracted fleets to take on more costly, cleaner running trucks, Westport Fuel Systems CEO David Johnson suggested that the stick approach might fare better, particularly for natural gas trucks.
Diesel combustion emits the greatest amount of greenhouse gases out of all transportation fuels, according to the California Air Resources Board and the Environmental Protection Agency, which led Johnson to pitch a disincentive regarding its use.
“Listen, if you want to use less diesel, just charge $10 a gallon and everybody will use less diesel,” Johnson said at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo in Anaheim, California earlier this month where the Tier 1 Canadian-based manufacturer displayed its High Pressure Direct Injection (HPDI) fuel system for Class 8 bio-LNG and hydrogen trucks.
